Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [90]
Without warning a straw-and-skin hand smashed through the glass inches from her face.
For the first time since she was ten, Ace let out something close to a scream. An arm followed the hand through the jagged glass, but got no further as Ace brought the full weight of the cleaver down, burying itself in the scarecrow‟s tweed jacket. She could almost imagine the creature‟s terrible, silent pain, but she felt no pity. Only anger.
„Stitch that, Worzel,‟ she said as the creature made a fruitless attempt to pull its arm back through the blackened glass. Another arm crashed through the conservatory wall and flailed around, helplessly searching for the source of its torment.
Ace and Joanna turned and ran back into the main building. The Chens had gathered just outside the kitchen.
„It‟s the straw-suckers, and they‟re not happy,‟ announced Ace. „Let‟s try the stairs.‟
They walked into the hallway, the sound of breaking glass behind them telling its own story.
The front door, to the left of the stairs, shook visibly, then ruptured completely, stopping the group in its tracks. The scarecrows poured through, masklike faces impassive, eyes burning with wordless hatred.
„Come on,‟ shouted Ace. „Back to the kitchen!‟
The car‟s engine was on fire, and the Doctor knew that the heat would soon ignite the petrol tank. He and Trevor struggled with Denman s unconscious body. The Chief Constable was a large man, and his big boots kept catching in the churned-up earth around the wrecked vehicle.
Rebecca stood some distance away from the burning car, watching the scarecrows nervously. The two stickmen who had dragged Don Tyley to his death had been joined by a number of others. Each seemed as unique as any human: one was tall and slim, with a twisted, misaligned head; another was squat and heavy-looking, a bloated stomach constantly disgorging straw. Another was like a child, its oversized face locked in a leering mockery of some playground game.
„They seem to be frightened of the flames,‟ Rebecca exclaimed, her voice momentarily blotting out the terrifying rending noises as the fire bit into the buckled metal of the car‟s bonnet.
The scarecrows were shambling around dumbly, trying to reach out for the humans, but shrinking back as the burning sparks flashed high into the air. „Straw men,‟ said the Doctor through gritted teeth.
„They haven‟t thought about going around the car,‟ said Trevor.
The Doctor snorted. „Jack seems to leave them with very little intelligence. These psychically controlled creatures are just puppets.‟
With an apocalyptic thunderclap of noise, the car exploded, showering the green with pieces of metal and glass. The blast hit the Doctor and the others in the back, a fist of oily heat that hurled them to the ground. They were just beyond the range of the bullet-fast shrapnel.
The scarecrows were not so fortunate. One or two had been completely consumed in the fireball, leaving only black twigs and corn in their wake. Another burnt like a human torch, head and arms flailing through angry red flames.
The other stickmen fell back, as if in superstitious awe, watching as the burning scarecrow collapsed to the ground in a rain of dark flesh and bone.
The Doctor turned to Rebecca and Trevor. „Wake him up,‟
he said, pointing at Denman. „Then get some petrol - you saw what fire did to these creatures. And find Ace. Tell her to leave the big picture to me. She‟ll understand.‟
„What are you going to do?‟ asked Trevor, wiping some of the soot from his face.
„I have a pressing engagement with Jack i‟ the Green,‟ said the Doctor. „Matthew Hatch, too.‟
„Where will you find them?‟ queried Rebecca.
The Doctor pointed to the inn that for centuries had watched the dark heart of Hexen Bridge. „The Green Man,‟
announced the Doctor. „Formerly the Jack in the Green.‟ He sighed. „It‟s obvious when you think